Barking Mad Day 1

Day 1 - Setting Your House Up for Success

The very first step in working on barking issues is to determine the environment where the barking occurs and implement management resources to reduce or prevent the barking as much as possible during the training period. This could be anything from placing a physical barrier in place to keep the dog out of the area where barking occurs, placing a visual barrier up to prevent the dog from seeing the distraction that triggers the barking, or playing white noise or a tv to prevent or reduce the volume of sounds that trigger the barking. 

Depending on the situation and the type of management that is implemented, a dog owner may decide to continue using that management for the lifetime of the dog. This might be an easy management tool such as using a gate that keeps the dog from approaching the front door and the dog owner is not opposed to having the gate up for ever. Sometimes the dog owner may not want to rely on the management tools forever, perhaps they find the gate annoying therefore they plan to use it short term preventing the behavior while training takes place. Both short term and long term management resources can be implemented if necessary.

Here are some sample management resources:

Visual barriers: This may include putting up a window film that allows in sunlight but doesn’t allow the dog to see as clearly, blinds or curtains that block out windows, or even moving furniture against or away from the window as needed.

White noise: If the dog is often triggered by sounds such as hearing the garbage truck pull up, some other sound could be played on garbage days. This might include a white noise system, a fan, a tv or radio. It should not need to be loud enough that the white noise totally blocks the sound of the triggering distraction but a continual sound that makes it less likely that the dog will key in to the triggering distraction.

Gates, crates, and pens: These are typically solid management resources that are meant to keep the dog contained, either out of an area during times the triggering distraction is likely to occur or keep the dog confined to a smaller area while the owners are unable to supervise.

Stashed treats: We encourage all dog owners to employ this type of management, especially during the training stages! Grab any containers that can be sealed and placed near where the barking happens or near the dog owner in easy to access places. You may stash these in multiple places in the house, a few key spaces, or the owner may choose to wear a treat bag so treats are always available. Sometimes the barking may be predictable, which makes quick treat access easier. More often the barking is unexpected or unpredictable, which requires having more options for grabbing treats quickly at any moment of the day.

Calming activities that add enrichment: This is also encouraged for all dog owners! Sometimes having a prepared enrichment activity that comes out at the same time of day that the barking is likely to occur or near the location where barking occurs. This may be a bone, lickmat or snuffle game that comes out during the expected time, before barking occurs or comes out after the barking stops as a reinforcement for disengaging with the barking behavior.

Today’s game:

Do one thing that makes you and your dog happy together! Our training games officially start tomorrow, but it’s important that you do something that increases the happy feelings between you and your dog before we get started.

Here is one of Belle's favorite games!

Today’s video:

Take a short video 1-2 minutes that shows the problem area of your house where your dog barks. This could even be a few photos. Your video may have your dog in view, but should not include the barking behavior. We want you to set this video up when you are NOT expecting or experiencing barking. There is no need to use any type of tripod or other resources, simply hold your camera and point it at the problem area(s). If you choose, you can talk about the situation where barking is likely to happen and/or management resources you’ve tried previously.

Here is my Day 1 Video